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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

Los Angeles County Grand Jury • 1981-1982

Department of Mental Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Published: February 16, 2010 113 pages
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Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F3

Findings 3 findings

F1 Page 105
The Auditor-Controller be provided adequate appropriate personnel to conduct systematic audits of concessions and franchises.
F2 Page 105
New vendor leases contain a condition requiring the annual submission of either a financial statement or income tax return. The present periodic monitoring activities by the DCEF and operating departments be
F4 Page 105
To reduce the administrative effort involved in annually verifying the County portion of gross receipts, an alternative recommendation would be consideration of drafting vendor lease renewals at a fixed fee that is comparable to the gross revenue percentage received over the past years. GROUP III - HOLDOVERS FROM 1980-81 DEPARTMENT OF ADOPTIONS The Los Angeles County Department of Adoptions (CDA) Audit was prepared by Arthur Young and Company, the 1980-81 Grand Jury contract auditor. Because the report was under- taken late in the term, it was held over for review and approval by the 1981-82 Grand Jury. The County Department of Adoptions, the only adoption agency in the state which is not a part of the County's social service agency, was established in 1949. It was separated from Los Angeles County's Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) in order to facilitate the adoption procedure. 104 - According to the staff of CDA, there is a perception on the part of some parents that an agency Taracas I concerned principally with adoptions is better able to handle care and placement of their children. Thus, those whose children would otherwise remain in long-term foster care arrange- ....................................... ments are more likely to relinquish such children for adoption. Providing a more stable family relationship through adoption not only benefits children, but also may save tax dollars that would have been expended to keep them in foster homes. A STATE OF Several significant events in the last decade dramatically reduced the number of children available for adoption: contraceptive measures became readily available, court decisions legalized abortions, and unwed mothers started keeping their babies. The nature of the Department's caseload also changed from placement of large numbers of Anglo infants to predominant placement of children for whom it was more difficult to find adoptive homes because of ethnicity, age, health or other factors. CDA is about half the size it was in 1970, and 85 to 90 percent of the children referred to the Department are categorized as hard to place. OBJECTIVES CDA had not been audited since it was established. The reason for this review was to see how well it serves parents and children. Based on an initial interview by the contract auditors with the Department's director and others, it was determined that the review would focus on four major areas: STATIONS OF

Recommendations 27